Welcome to Reynolds Feed Service

In 1986, Golden Sun Feeds in Estherville, Iowa contacted a newly married couple, Martin and Jo Reynolds, living in rural Indianola, Iowa asking them to become a feed dealer in the Indianola area after a tragic accident took the life of the former dealer.  Martin and Jo, being an ambitious young couple, already had jobs but decided to embark on a new chapter in their lives and agreed to become the new Golden Sun Feeds dealers in the area.  Martin was farming, raising cattle, and hogs while Jo was an office manager for Farmers Home Administration in Winterset. 

The “shingle”, with the name of J & M Country Store, was hung outside the Morton building on the home farm where Jo and Martin lived and inventory slowly trickled in.  Six months had elapsed since the death of the former dealer and one former farmer/feeder was left as a loyal customer.  Customers eventually heard of the feed store that coined the phrase “on your honor” as the cash box sat at the unmanned desk with no warehouse person watching the inventory.  People would come in, make a ticket, leave the money in the box and load their own product.

Not long after people figured out that system, an offer was made to Jo by her father to come work with him in the F. Max Bishop Insurance Agency already established in Indianola.  Martin and Jo were expecting their first child by this time so staying in town with no travel seemed like a great option. The inventory was moved to town in the building located at the corner of Hwy 92 and Howard Street that was formerly the Super America Gas Station. Much work was done to the building to make offices in the east end and showroom/warehouse in the west end. 

Business began to grow and eventually the building became too small for the amount of feed and animal health products carried.  The animal health products were ordered as customers needed them.  If one new product was ordered by a customer, two were ordered from the supplier to keep one extra on the shelf. This side of the business was built one customer and one product at a time.

More space was needed to store feed and adding on to the current building was not feasible at the time so two semi trailers were set at the west end of the building for storage. Bulk feed was delivered to the store and either unloaded directly into the bulk truck or taken to the farm to be stored for later delivery. 

Two of Martin and Jo’s children had grown up taking naps in the playpen, being pushed around the block in a stroller to encourage a nap, carrying out small bags of product for customers, and learning to sweep the floors. Many customers still refer to the oldest two as the “feed store kids playing in the playpen”   In 1995 the City of Indianola passed an ordinance prohibiting the use of semi trailers for storage in the city limits.  A decision needed to be made about what to do with the business. 

Martin and Jo lived on the west side of town and drove passed the building that was originally built by the Golden Sun Feed dealer who was killed in the tragic accident mentioned above.  The building had been added on to several times and had been occupied by several different businesses.  One day Martin decided to call the phone number listed on the door of the business located at 2612 West 2nd Avenue to see what the selling price of the vacant building was. This location had a new grain leg and 124 ton storage bins for bulk feeds saving the need to use the bulk bins at the farm for storage.  Every day they passed the building knowing that it would be a perfect fit for Max’s Insurance business and plenty of space for the feed and animal health inventory but worried that the price might be out of reach.

 As fate would have it, the price was not completely out of reach and the trailers downtown had to be removed, so it appeared the couple expecting their third child would make a major investment in the business. Along with the new location would come a new name, Reynolds Feed Service, Inc. Max rented the office space on the east end of the building for his office and the remaining building would be used for inventory, offices, and storage.  A very small showroom was set up in the west space along with two rooms for an office and a table for the kids to do homework after school. The purchase of the new facility took place December 1st, 1996. 

Once again, the products that customers requested to fill the shelves were outgrowing the space in the showroom.  An expansion into the warehouse portion was necessary to accommodate the growth.  In December of 1999, the remodeling began.  The walls were moved north expanding the showroom from
26 X 36 to 36 X 80. 

The next improvement to the facility was the “old west” style porch added to the front entrance.  Martin designed and built the new porch.  The second step was to add a concrete parking area and ramps for the feed carts to deliver products to vehicles in front of the new porch.  A new grain leg replaced the old in 2005.

In order to accommodate more traffic, the entire driveway from highway 92 to the front entrance was poured with concrete.  In 2009, Blake Reynolds, graduated from Iowa State University with a degree in Agricultural Studies with emphasis in Agronomy.  Reynolds Feed Service, Inc was proud to announce that Blake would be the new Pioneer Seed Representative.  Once again the building became too small requiring the addition of a seed warehouse on the current site.  The new 50 X 144 building was built, concrete was poured, office was constructed, and Blake went to the country to talk to farmers about seed needs.

The business is 24 years old in 2010.  Reynolds Feed Service takes pride in their employee’s knowledge of the feeds and products that are available in the store and products that can be ordered.  The staff at Reynolds Feed Service will carefully load your vehicle for you.
Many events are held each year at the store to further education for the 4H and FFA youth.  The target areas of education are show feeds for cattle, swine, goat, and sheep and seminars for equine exhibitors. 

The inventory keeps expanding on a daily basis to supply customers with the newest and latest products and feeds for their livestock, pets, and health needs.  In the spring, sounds of baby chicks fill the store while fish days are held several times per year during the summer and fall months.  Reynolds Feed Service looks forward to increasing the size of the showroom again soon.  The owners and staff at Reynolds Feed Service would like to thank all customers for their continued support and loyalty over the years.

Stop by today, we have a “Feed for Every Need” and we are “Much more than a feed store”.